Mushrooms for athletes: do they actually work? 🍄
A case of "style" over substance?
Effects of fungal supplementation on endurance, immune function, and hematological profiles in adult athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Study Details
This new meta-analysis compiled data from 14 studies (528 athletes) to establish the effects of fungal supplements including…
🍄🟫 Cordyceps
🍄🟫 Lions mane
🍄🟫 Reishi
…on endurance, immune function, and hematological profiles 🔍
Here are the key findings ⬇️
Key Findings
Cordyceps (~3 g/day) significantly improved…
📈 Endurance performance
🫁 Ventilatory threshold
🫀 VO2peak
…indicating enhanced aerobic capacity with low heterogeneity ✅
Reishi (~75 mg/day) significantly reduced…
🩸 Blood urea nitrogen
🩸 Blood lactate
…alongside increased haematocrit and superoxide dismutase activity 📈
Evidence also showed that endurance athletes may benefit from elevated haemoglobin concentrations with reishi supplementation 🚴♂️
Conclusion
These findings show the potential of fungal supplements as natural, safe, and effective ergogenic aids that enhance endurance and recovery in athletes ✅
However, the data pool is quite small…
👉 Cordyceps (5 studies, all showing benefits though)
👉 Reishi (6 studies)
…and therefore strong conclusions from these data should be avoided until confirmed by future studies 📚
Reference
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41280379/
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